World's richest lose $93 bn as US inflation soars

The combined fortunes of American richest billionaires tumbled by $93 billion on Tuesday as U.S consumer prices unexpectedly rose in August.

According to reports by Bloomberg, Jeff Bezos suffered the most as he saw $9.8 billion erased from his wealth. Elon Musk, also taking second place on the list lost $8.4 billion.

The fortunes of Mark Zuckerberg, Larry Page, Sergey Brin and Steve Ballmer all declined by more than $4 billion, while Warren Buffett and Bill Gates lost $3.4 billion and $2.8 billion, respectively.

This comes after the US inflation data for the month of August triggered concerns over the possibility of further rate hikes by the US Federal Reserve. Contrary to expectations, the US Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 8.3 per cent in August. It was estimated to rise 8.1 per cent on an annual basis.

The disappointing data means traders are bracing for the Federal Reserve to ultimately raise interest rates even higher than expected to combat inflation, with all the risks for the economy that entails.